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1816IIHF News from www.iifh.comTYPO3 - get.content.righthttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssMon, 16 Oct 2017 11:57:00 +0200Zakis passes awayhttp://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-u20-championship/news-singleview-world-u20-ia-channel/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12055
Was official and coach in LatviaZakis started his career as an on-ice official in 1978 and was for five years officiating games in the Soviet championship and was a supervisor in IIHF tournaments.

After independence in the ‘90s he started to work in the development of women’s hockey in the country. He was the head coach of the Latvian women’s national team at the 1995 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s European Championship the country hosted in Riga. In 2000 and 2001 he returned as the assistant coach and from 2003 to 2008 and in 2012 he was the team’s head coach at six IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I events as well as the Olympic Qualification in the 2012/2013 season.

At the same time he remained active with the Latvian Hockey Federation as an off-ice official, most recently at games of the top Latvian senior league and at junior games one week before his death, was the LHF’s referee in chief for many years and worked as an off-ice officials at international tournaments in Latvia.]]>on leftWorldsWomen12 LatviaMon, 16 Oct 2017 11:57:00 +0200Kuwait’s women on icehttp://www.iihf.com/channels1718/video-kuwait-women/
New team prepares for international debut Check out this video from Olympic Channel about the first steps for Kuwaiti women’s ice hockey.

Kuwait joined the IIHF in 1985 and is one of four countries at the Persian Gulf that has IIHF membership. The men’s team is the second-strongest from the Gulf states in IIHF competitions behind the United Arab Emirates. In spring it won the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia Division I on home ice in Kuwait City.]]>on topWorldsWomenKuwaitMon, 16 Oct 2017 10:18:00 +0200Seventh heaven for Jaroshttp://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-u20-championship/news-singleview-world-u20-ia-channel/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12053
Kosice D-man first Slovak NHL rookie of 2017/18The robust 21-year-old from Kosice became the first Slovak NHL rookie of 2017/18 on 10 October versus the Vancouver Canucks. It hardly mattered that he played just 6:22 as coach Guy Boucher’s seventh defenceman – or that he would be returned to the AHL's Belleville Senators after making one more appearance against the Calgary Flames. Lately, newcomers from Slovakia, which sits 11th in the IIHF World Ranking, have been few and far between.

Last season, the only brand-new NHL Slovak was left wing Peter Cehlarik of the Boston Bruins, who chipped in two assists in 11 games at age 22. Centre Marek Hrivik of the New York Rangers also had two assists, in 16 games, but while the 25-year-old still qualified as a rookie, he had already played four games with the Rangers in 2015-16. Only two Slovaks were drafted in 2017 (Adam Ruzicka and Marian Studenic) and none at all in 2016.

So even if Jaros was only recalled from Belleville along with Thomas Chabot, Canada’s 2017 World Junior MVP, due to injuries to captain Erik Karlsson, Johnny Oduya, and Ben Harpur, this was an event worth celebrating.

“I feel great,” Jaros said after the 3-2 shootout win over Vancouver. “It was a really good feeling to be out there with those guys. They told me to just play simple and play my way. I would say all of the guys helped on and off the ice. It’s hard to pick one, but Boro [Mark Borowiecki] helped me a lot.”

To put things in perspective, the only other Slovak NHL defencemen currently are the legendary Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who turned 40 in March; the all-around Edmonton Oilers veteran Andrej Sekera, who is recovering from a torn ACL; and the gifted but inconsistent Toronto Maple Leafs project Martin Marincin, who was demoted to the AHL on 6 October.

“I will say that back home in Slovakia, people are happy to see new faces and new guys in the NHL,” said Jaros, a fifth-round pick of the Senators (139th overall) in 2015. “I hope there will be more this season. We have some good guys in the American Hockey League who are trying to get up.”

One of Jaros’s specialties is knocking opponents down. In his debut, he laid out Vancouver’s Markus Granlund with a big first-period hit. Last season, in his third year with the SHL’s Lulea HF, the 192-cm, 97-kg blueliner gained YouTube fame for crushing Skelleftea’s Sebastian Ohlsson with a Rob Blake-style hip check.

“He’s a rock,” said Boucher. “He’s one of those torpedoes. If he’s seeking you, he’s going to find you. He’s got speed and he’s got some skill. He’s going to be an NHLer. Love him, love his game.”

Jaros said he will always be grateful for his time in Lulea, with whom he won a Champions Hockey League title in 2015: “I started playing against men there, and it was a chance to match up against bigger bodies and faster hockey. There are a lot of good players there and you can compare yourself against them. Lulea helped me a lot in my development. I’m happy that I spent those years there.”

In 2016, Jaros was named the captain of the Slovak World Junior team that came seventh in Helsinki. But his favourite World Junior moment came in 2015, when he claimed bronze in Toronto on a Cinderella team led by the MVP goaltending of Denis Godla and captain Martin Reway’s nine points.

“That was special for Slovakia,” Jaros said. “It was the first time we had won a medal since the bronze in 1999. It felt really good and I have great memories from that tournament. It was a great group of guys. I talk with almost everyone, try to stay in contact. We always meet each other in the summer, the whole team.”

Sometimes, life takes a funny turn. Just ask Jaros about what he remembers from the 2011 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship co-hosted by Bratislava and his hometown of Kosice. He was 15 years old, and because he played for HC Kosice’s junior squad, he got some special privileges – including meeting the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who would become an Ottawa teammate.

“We got free entrance to the games and we could go between the locker rooms. A lot of famous guys were there, including Dion Phaneuf. I remember I took a picture with him. And now we’ve been playing together! I didn’t tell him about it yet, but I will.”

Both the Senators and the Slovak national team will watch this young man’s development with keen interest. Jaros made his World Championship debut in 2016, scoring two goals in five games as Slovakia finished ninth. In 2017, the Slovaks sunk to 14th place and allowed 28 goals in seven games, with only Italy (32) and Slovenia (36) surrendering more. So Slovak fans will be pleased to hear how maturely Jaros is approaching his opportunity with the Senators organization.

“My goal for this season is to get ready to the best of my ability and always try to push myself forward. Hopefully one day I’ll be here in a stable position. I want to improve my game and play in the hard situations.”

LUCAS AYKROYD]]>on topNHL16 Slovakiaon leftSun, 15 Oct 2017 12:36:00 +0200Media Accreditationhttp://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/media/accreditation/
Applications for World Juniorson rightFri, 13 Oct 2017 19:02:00 +0200Potter to lead Slovakiahttp://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-u20-championship/news-singleview-world-u20-ia-channel/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12051
Four-time world champion turns to coachingDuring her long international career as a player Potter won gold at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games and at four IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011). She ended her international career in 2012 and most recently played during the 2014/15 season for the CWHL’s Boston Blades.

Now she returns on the international stage as head coach of the Slovaks, who recently earned promotion back to the second tier of international women’s hockey. At the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group A in Vaujany they will play for promotion to the top division against Austria, Norway, Denmark, Hungary and host France.

Already before ending her career she had stints as assistant coach with American high schools working together with her husband Rob Potter. She then became head coach at the Trinity College women’s ice hockey team (NCAA Div. III) and later coached the women’s team of the Ohio State University (NCAA Div. I).

The Slovak U18 women’s national team will be led by Peter Kudelka with Barbora Kezmarska as assistant coach.]]>on leftWorldsWomen16 SlovakiaFri, 13 Oct 2017 18:59:00 +0200CHL playoffs drawnhttp://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-u20-championship/news-singleview-world-u20-ia-channel/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12050
1/8-finals start on 31st OctoberThe draw included the 16 teams that remain in the competition following the conclusion of the group state. In the draw each group winner from the first pot got a team that finished second in the groups as opponent.

The home-and-away 1/8-finals will begin on 31st October and 1st November at the venue of the second-ranked team (upon arena availability) and the return games will be played on 7th November.

The winners advance to the quarterfinals that will be played on 5/6 December and 12 December. The semi-finals will be played on 9/10 & 16/17 January and the one-game final on 6th February.

For more information visit championshockeyleague.net.]]>on leftClub04 Czech Republic18 Sweden19 Switzerland06 FinlandGreat Britain01 Austria08 Germanyon rightFri, 13 Oct 2017 13:57:00 +0200How ‘bout Bratthttp://2018.worldjunior.hockey/en/news/how-bout-bratt/
Swedish rookie making history in New JerseyTom Fitzgerald first remembers watching the 19-year-old Swedish forward last November while he was in Europe on a scouting trip. The New Jersey Devils assistant general manager recalled seeing a smallish forward who could skate well, but nothing jumped out about Bratt’s game to the former NHLer.

Fitzgerald saw Bratt again following the 2017 NHL Entry Draft at the Devils development camp and noticed a change in the 2016 sixth-round selection. Then in August, at the World Junior Summer Showcase, while playing against other top NHL prospects, Bratt shone scoring two goals and two assists in four games for Sweden.

“It wasn’t until this past development camp until I went ‘Whoa’,” said Fitzgerald. “He was very strong on his skates, got really good hockey sense, excellent hockey sense, heavy stick, but he’s not big. It was only development camp.

“Then I went out to Plymouth for the summer showcase where you’ve Canada’s best, the U.S.’s best, Sweden, the Finns – it really was a showcase of who’s who of each team’s prospects. And he just made it look easy. Could handle the puck. It was like, ‘Wow’. I remember saying, ‘This kid is going to be a good player’.”

Bratt admittedly wasn’t happy with his 2016/17 season playing for AIK Stockholm in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound forward scored six goals and 22 assists in 46 games.

He also fell off Sweden’s radar for the IIHF World Junior Championship.

“Last year was a pretty tough year for me,” Bratt said. “It was tough for me to be confident on the ice, I was always nervous before games so I never performed to my highest level. I didn’t know how to make myself ready for the next day and that is something I worked on a lot this year to play at my highest level every night. I think that is most important.”

In an effort to improve his game both on and off the ice, the Stockholm native made multiple changes this summer from working out with a new skills coach to enlisting in a mental coach Andy Sward.

“I started working with (Sward) just over the summer to help me be prepared for the games, for the practices and all that stuff so he’s been great to me,” said Bratt. “I always call him before games. FaceTime. It’s great to talk to him before games. He makes me feel very comfortable.”

Bratt also joined several Swedish NHLers such as Gabriel Landeskog, Jacob Josefson, Rickard Rakell and Patric Hornqvist in a pro skate Stockholm.

“It was a great summer for me both on and off the ice,” he said. “I feel a lot stronger and faster. It was nice to practise with all the pro guys like William and Alex Nylander and a couple more pro guys like Viktor Loov. I had a great workout with a couple Swedish NHL players. It was a great summer for me.”

The steps taken by Bratt in the summer have paid off early in the season.

It’s rare for a sixth-round pick to arrive at the NHL level so quickly, but after just three games, Bratt has shown he belongs.

The 19-year-old is an excellent skater, who always finds himself in the right spots on the ice. It’s helped him contribute three goals and three assist. He became the first player in Devils history to record five points in the first two games of his NHL career.

The way Bratt thinks the game has landed him on the Devils penalty kill and power play.

“His compete level is really good, he can make plays in small spaces under pressure,” said Devils coach John Hynes. “I think when you have a guy that can play at a high pace, competes like he does, and he has the ability, even at that high of a pace, to be able to turn plays and make plays is something that’s been impressive to see.”

With just one Stanley Cup playoff appearance in the last seven seasons, New Jersey’s front office staff arrived at training camp in September with a mantra of playing the “best guy”, it’s opened the door for Bratt, who thought he’d be spending the season in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights after being selected in the first round of the 2017 CHL Import Draft.

However, with Bratt’s early season play, the Devils will have a few options to consider. If he continues to produce, he’s likely to say with the NHL club. Since he was drafted out of Sweden 162nd overall and not from a CHL junior team, he’s eligible for the American Hockey League or European pro hockey. New Jersey could also assign Bratt to London – where he thought he’d spend the 2017/18 season.

“It’s something that we touched on, but haven’t dissected it,” said Fitzgerald. “In one sense you could say well going to the American Hockey League would be great because we control him, we have our hands on him and we can call him back up. We can give him this type of development path. The American Hockey League is a hard league. For a kid like that, it could be harder because it’s a little (less structured). He’s so smart he knows where guys are. He’s playing chess with chess players. You go down there; sometimes you’re playing chess with checker players.

“On the flip side of it, the only reason he came over here was to play in London. He made a commitment to come over and play. We made a commitment to him when we signed him with all intentions to play in the CHL so I don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re not even thinking about it to be honest with you because we’re just living day-to-day.”

If his game does taper off, and Bratt finds himself in either the AHL or OHL, he’d likely get to fulfill another childhood dream: playing for the national team at the under-20 level.

“To play for the national team is one of the things that as a kid I was growing up dreaming about,” he said. “Playing in World Juniors would be pretty cool for me.”

For now Bratt is trying to remain in the moment and take things as they come. He hasn’t had discussions about the OHL or AHL with the organization, but if he continues on his current path, there won’t be a conversation to be had.

“I’ve been pretty lucky to score some goals and stuff,” Bratt said. “I’m just trying to play my best game every night and I’ve been pretty lucky so far so it’s been nice.”

DHIREN MAHIBAN]]>on topWorldsU20NHL18 Swedenon lefton rightFri, 13 Oct 2017 11:14:00 +0200Licences for on-ice officialshttp://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/sport/officials/licences/
A, B and C licences for referees and linesmenon rightIIHFWed, 11 Oct 2017 18:56:00 +0200SKA’s record winning streakhttp://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-u20-championship/news-singleview-world-u20-ia-channel/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12047
20 consecutive victories in the KHLFriday’s 3-2 home victory against Sibir Novosibirsk proved slightly more nervous than SKA might have expected. Rolling back into St. Petersburg on the back of 6-1 road wins at Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Salavat Yulayev Ufa, the Gagarin Cup holder was the hot favourite to despatch Sibir for the second time in two weeks.

But the Siberians were in no mood to feature as cannon fodder. In the first period, they frustrated the host, limiting SKA to nine shots in a goalless 20 minutes. In the second, an early power-play chance broke the deadlock; Sergei Plotnikov and Dinar Khafizullin opened a 2-0 advantage. Still, though, Sibir doggedly stayed in the game. Jonas Enlund pulled a goal back and it took a sharp wrist shot from Yevgeni Ketov to get SKA’s game-winner with eight minutes left. Despite a late goal from Sibir’s Simon Onerud, SKA held on and overtook Avangard’s 18-game run from 2010/11. There wasn’t much time to celebrate: SKA was back in action on Monday, and won 4-0 at Spartak Moscow to bring up its 20th success.

Avangard’s record streak was inspired by Jaromir Jagr. The run, impressive as it was, included five games that went to overtime or shootouts. SKA is overloaded with inspirational talents; when one distinguished international star rests, another is ready to step up. The 19-game streak has produced 16 regulation victories; the biggest margin along the way was a crushing 9-1 demolition of Yugra Khanty-Mansisk.

Offence from all areas

Unusually, SKA’s victory over Sibir did not feature goals from its free-scoring forwards. At present, Nikita Gusev, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Shirokov and Pavel Datsyuk occupy four of the top five places in the KHL scoring charts. The team’s tally of 88 goals this season is far ahead of the rest: Avangard Omsk’s 55 from 18 games is the next best.

The individual stats are no less impressive. Gusev had 28 (12+16) from 19 games, Kovalchuk 16+10=26. Barys Astana’s Nigel Dawes muscles into third place, but Shirokov (23) and Datsyuk (22) round out the top five. Then there’s Patrik Hersley, the Swedish defenceman, weighing in with 19 (10+9) from the blue line, another league leading return.

It’s a similar story at the other end. SKA has allowed 25 goals in 19 games; Jokerit Helsinki, with 22, has conceded fewer, but the Finns have played just 14 games so far. Goalie Igor Shestyorkin, vying with CSKA Moscow’s Ilya Sorokin for the #1 role at the Olympics, has the best save percentage (95.9%), the best GAA (1.08) and his fourth shutout of the season at Spartak puts him on top of that category as well. It speaks much for the calibre of SKA’s defensive unit that the absence of Vyacheslav Voinov through injury early in the season barely caused a ripple in the team’s progress.

What they are saying

Head coach Znarok, who said in pre-season that his team’s potential was ‘frightening’, is not indulging in premature congratulations. After Friday’s record-breaking win, he focused on the team’s slow start to the game and the ‘careless’ goals allowed in the third period. That’s been a consistent part of his comments; after that 9-1 win at Yugra, Znarok warned of ‘serious errors’ and suggested his team was fortunate not to have been punished.

For Datsyuk, 19 wins was only the start. “Right now, our record is not complete,” he told Sport-Express. “We can still keep on winning. I’m sure we’ll keep on playing this way. I’d have liked more home games [early in the season], playing in front of this support makes it easier on the ice.” Team-mate Viktor Tikhonov was also looking forward to more success. “Of course, it feels good right now,” he said. “It’s not so often you get to set a record like this, to be part of an occasion like this. But the most important thing is to keep going, and extend the streak.”

Shirokov, meanwhile, warned against complacency. “I wouldn’t say we were affected by the record,” he told championat.com. “Records are part of history, they will remain for some time, at least until the next season.

“We’re working hard. From the outside maybe it looks simple, but look at how our guys go after the puck, how they get in the way of shots, how the injuries start to crop up. It’s not easy, and it deserves respect. We’ll try to keep going.”

Can anyone stop SKA?

Oleg Znarok’s team has been so dominant that headline writers are asking whether SKA might go unbeaten throughout the entire season. With 41 games to go, that is surely fanciful, but it is indicative of just how impressive the Petersburg team has looked this season. With the nucleus of Russia’s national team on the roster, and Znarok combining roles for club and country, there are echoes of the all-powerful CSKA Moscow teams of the Soviet era

That group of Army Men, under the guidance of Viktor Tikhonov, holds the old Soviet record for consecutive victories. In 1983/84, CSKA began the season with 39 wins. The current CSKA roster, defeated in the season opener against SKA on 21st August, gets a chance for revenge on 23rd October.

One man likely to be rooting for the Muscovites that day is Kirill Fastovski, general manager of Sibir. When asked about SKA’s streak, his response was blunt: “How can it be interesting [when one team wins so much]?” he told Sovietski Sport.

However, if SKA is to turn its current record-breaking form into a third Gagarin Cup in four seasons, something will have to change. In the KHL era, no team topping the regular season table has gone on to triumph in the playoffs. Only CSKA, beaten by Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2016, has reached the Grand Final. It may be a historical quirk, but for many fans of SKA’s rivals, it is starting to feel like a rare cause for optimism.

ANDY POTTS]]>on topClub15 Russiaon lefton rightWed, 11 Oct 2017 15:57:00 +0200Alive and kickinghttp://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-u20-championship/news-singleview-world-u20-ia-channel/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12046
Danish pioneers ice next generationIt's not the winning but the taking part that counts. An old adage most certainly applicable for Kjobenhavns Skojteloberforening (KSF) as they continue their efforts to woo youngsters in the Osterbro district of Denmark’s capital and 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship hosts to the delights of hockey.

With the World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend also having been played in two other locations in Denmark, Herning and Odense, the careful steps of progress made in the northern part of Copenhagen is a reason for rejoicing following a barren decade.

“We had 24 players out on the ice today with 14 of them being newcomers,” said KSF’s coach Henriette Holm, who was in charge of the event taking place on Saturday. “The participants combined their practice out on the ice together with the players with previous experience practiced skating, turning and passing. The beginners were between four to nine years old and of very different levels where our aim for them was to have as much fun as possible,” she said.

KSF added ice hockey to its program in 1938 and have since 1977 operating solely as a hockey club. The heart of their operations had for decades been based at the artificial ice rink, Osterbro skojtehal, built in 1960 until it was razed to the ground following the continued expansion of the area surrounding Denmark’s national football stadium. A drastic decision that was to leave the traditional hockey club in limbo.

“Our old rink was torn down in 2008 and since then we have been playing in a temporary one,” said Holm about the balloon construction where the World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend was taking place. “Having seen our old home being taken away from us, we have lost a lot of players and we are now in the process of trying to start all over again and rebuild the club,” she continued.

While KSF has seen clubs in the greater Copenhagen region and beyond surpass them, the club is very much at the core of Danish ice hockey heritage. With Denmark being in the spotlight this season as the World Championship will be hosted by Copenhagen and Herning, it is an excitement also felt at KSF as an excellent opportunity to try and capitalize the growing interest and rise again.

“The World Championship will definitely bring more attention to the sport and of course we hope to get more boys and girls joining our club,” said Holm as KSF hope to cater the new recruits in more modern surroundings with a new permanent rink expected to open its doors in 2020.

In the meantime, Holm and her colleagues will continue to make the best out of their current situation in their temporary home, and take solace from the snippets of progress being made. One such being a rookie who attending yesterday’s World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend and already appears to be hooked.

“We had a four-year-old taking part, who enjoyed skating so much so she refused to stop. In the end, she got off the ice, but with a promise that she would come back to skate already the next day,” said Holm.

Click here for the #WGIHW tracker with more events from Denmark and around the world.